Drill steel centralizer



Dec. 26, 1944. E. G. GARTIN DRILL STEEL CENTRALIZER Filed m. 15, 1941 2Sheets-S heet 1 Dec. 26, 1944.

E. G. GARTIN DRILL STEEL CENTRALIZER Filed Aug; 15, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet2 IHHH I I I LHHHHHHHNI I I I III IHIIIU III m I I III Patented Dec. 26,1944 DRILL STEEL CENTRALIZER Elmer G. Gartin, Claremont, N. IL, assignorto Sullivan Machinery Company, a corporation of ,MassachusettsApplication August 15, 1941, Serial No. 407,080

Claims.

This invention relates to rock drills, and more particularly to animproved centralizer for a drill steel of a hammer rock drill.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved drill steelcentralizer. Another object is to provide an improved drill steelcentralizer having improved control means whereby the centralizer may bereadily released. A further object is to provide an improved drill steelcentralizer having improved control means operable from a remote point.Yet another object is to provide an improved centralizer for the drillsteel of a hammer rock drill of the shell guided, drifter type, havingimproved release means operable from the rear-end of the guide shell. Astill further object is to provide an improved drill steel centralizerhaving improved latch means for holding the centralizer-guide-arms inguiding position together with means for automatically effectingmovement of the guide arms out of their guiding. position when the latchsubstantially on line 'l---! of Fig. 1, showing the automatic controlvalve.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the manual control valvetaken on line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the manual control valvetaken on line 9-9 of v Fig. 6.

means is released. A still further object is to provide an improvedguide-arm-latch which is fluid actuated and controllable from a remotepoint whereby the centralizer maybe quickly released from the drillsteel. Another object is to provide an improved drill steel centralizerhaving a novel arrangement and combination of parts.

How these and other objects 'are'accomplished, and the advantageousfeatures of the invention, will be best understood from the followingdetailed description wherein a preferred and illustrative embodiment anda modification thereof are set forth, reference for the purpose beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a hammer rock drill with which thepreferred illustrative embodiment of the inventionis associated, partsbeingshown in section to illustrate structural details.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the forward portion of the rockdrill shown in Fig. 1, showing the improved drill steel centralizer.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially on line3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the centralizer in guiding position.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the centralizer in itsreleased position.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken through the guideshell substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially on line86 of Fig. 1, showing the manual control valve.

' Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken Fig. 10 is anenlarged cross sectional view taken through the centralizersubstantially on line IIl-I0 of Fig. l.

Fig. 11 is a detail view in longitudinal section taken substantially online IIII of Fig. 10, showing a guide arm pivot.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary plan view, with parts shown in horizontalsection, of a modified form of construction.

In both illustrative embodiments of the invention the improved drillsteel centralizer, generally designated I, is associated with aconventional hammer rock drill of the mounted drifter type generallydesignated 2. It will be evident, however, that the centralizer may beassociated with drills of other types, if desired.

The rock drill 2 comprises a conventional drill hammer motor 3 slidablyguided in the guideways 4, 4 of an elongated guide shell 5, the latterhaving the usual' bottom swivel plate Ii adapted to be clamped in aconventional drill support. Supported in a conventional manner by tierods and spacing sleeves at the rear end of the guide shell is a crossyoke I, and a feed screw 8 mounted on the guide shell is journaled atits rear end within this cross yoke and is journaled at its front end bymeans of a front bearing support 9 attached to the front end of theshell, also by the tie rods. The feed screw has a usual manual operatinghandle II) and engages a non-rotatable feed nut II (Fig. 6) securedwithin a depending boss I2 integral with a motor cylinder I3. The motorcylinder has longitudinal guides I4 I4 slidingly received in the shellguideways 4. By rotating the feed screw the hammer motor may be fed backand forth along the shell guideways. The hammer motor has a front chuckhousing I5 suitably attached to the front end of the motor cylinder I3,and supported within a usual chuck mechanism carried within the chuckhousing is the shank of a usual drill stell I6. As is usual in hammerdrilling motors, the motor cylinder I3 contains a fluid actuated hammerpiston for percussively actuating the drill steel.

The improved drill steel centralizer I, as shown in Figs. 1 to 11inclusive, comprises a pair of cooperating guide arms I1, Il pivoted onparallel longitudinal axes on lateral lugs l8 integral with the frontbearing support 9 and having cooperating guide portions 19 adapted toembrace the in Fig. 3, by a latch 20 pivoted at 2| on the guide portionof one of the guide arms and having a latching 111g 22 engageable with aprojection 23 integral with the other guide arm. The guide armsare'pivoted between their extremities and have bottom projections 24below their pivots connected by a coil spring 25, and this springconstantly urges said arms apart. The latch 20 holds the arms togetherin guiding relation against the tension of the spring, but when thelatch is released the arms are quickly thrown apart by the spr i Manualcontrol means is provided for effectin release of the latch under theactuation of pressure fluid from a point remote from the centralizernearthe rear end of the guide shell. Arranged in a transverse bore 25 in adepending boss 21 integral with the guide shell is a rotary controlvalve 28 having an operating handle 29. This valve is hollow at 30 andits hollow interior is connected to a suitable source of pressure fluidsupply through a supply hose connection 3i. A passage 34 connects thevalve-receiving-bore 26 to a conduit 35 extending longitudinally alongone side of the guide shell, as shown in Fig. 5, and connected by apassage 36 to a passage 31 in the front bearing support 9. The passage31 communicates with a. passage 38 (Fig. 11) in one of th pivot bolts 39for the guide arms, and a passage 40 in this guide arm connects thepassage Sit/with a bore 4| in the guide arm near thesteel-guiding-portion of the arm as shown in Fig. 10. Contained in thisbore is a plunger 42 engageable with a lever arm 43 of the latch 20. Thebore 4| and plunger 42 cooperate to provide a servo-motor. A coil spring44 urges the plum;-

-er inwardly within its bore. A spring-pressedplunger 45 on the otherguide arm engages the latch 20 yieldingly to hold the same connected. Itis accordingly evident that when the operator turns the rotary controlvalve 28 into a position to supply pressure fluid through the passages36, 38, 31, 38 and 40 to the bore ll beneath the plunger 42, the latteris moved upwardly against the action of the coil spring #84 and thespring- 54. The rotary valve 28 is traversed by a port 55 (Fig. 9) forcontinuouslyconnecting the valve interior through an annular groove inthe walls of the bore with a passage 58 connected by a I annularlygrooved at 59 to connect the passage 58 with a' passage 60, the latterbeing in communication with a conduit 6L. The conduit 6| is connected bya passage 62 with the passage 31 in the front bearing support 9. It isaccordingly evident that as the'drill hammer motor is fed forwardlyalong the guideways of the guide shell, the elongation 53 of thecylinder guide engases the valve stem 52 at a predetermined point in thefeeding travel of the drill hammer motor, and as a result the valve50'is depressed to move the valve groove 59 into a position to connectthe passages 58 and 60, thereby to supply pressure fluld from thepassage 56 through the conduits and passages to the inner end of a thebore 4| containing the plunger 42, and as a pressed-plunger to efiectrelease of the latch 26. When the latch is released the guide arms arequickly thrown open by the coil spring 25. The groove 33 on the valve 28is connectible to a vent port 46 (Fig. 8), thereby to vent the bore ilat the inner end of the plunger, and when the plunger bore is vented thespring 44 moves the plunger inwardly.

Associated with the manual control means is an automatic control meansfor effecting release of the guide arms at a predetermined point in thefeeding travel of the drill hammer motor to prevent the front end of thechuck housing of the hammer motor from striking against the centralizeras the hammer motor is fed forwardly along the shell guideways. Thisautomatic control comprises a plunger valve 50 (Fig. 7) arranged in abore 5| in the guide shell and having a stem 52 projecting into one ofthe shell guideways 4. One of the cylinder guides i4 is elongated at 53(Fig. l), and when this guideelongation engages the valve stem 52 thevalve lit is depressed against the action of a coil spring result thelatter is moved outwardly to release the guide-arm-latch 20 to effectrelease of the guide arms l'l. Thus engagement of the front end of thehammer motor with the centralizer arms is impossible. Under the controlof the rotary valve 28 the guide arm may be released at will from theoperators station at the rear end of the guide shell.

In the modification shown in Fig. 12, the latchrelease-plunger isremoved from the guide arm of the centralizer and is placed on theguideshell. As shown, a lateral boss 65 integral with the guide shellhas a bore 56 for receiving a plunger 6! which is held rearwardly by acoil spring 68. This plunger has a stem 69 engageahle with a lever armIt of a latch I I. This latch is pivoted at 12 on one of the guide armsand has a latch in projection 13 eng geable wi h a pr j tion 14 integralwith the other guide arm. The above described fluid conducting passages34, 35 in the guide shell are connected to a conduit 15 communicatingwith the rear end of the plunger-reeeiving-bore, and when pressure fluidis supplied to the plunger-receiving-bore under the control of therotary valve 28, the plunger is moved forwardly to release the latch. Asin th other form. of the invention, a coil spring swings the arms wideopen when the latch is released. Otherwise this form of the invention issimilar to that above described.

As a result of this invention an improved drill steel centralizer isprovided having novel control means whereby release of the guide armsmay be effected from a remote point. This is a particularly desirablearrangement since the operator can effect release of the centralizerfrom his station at the rear end of the guide shell. Also by providingthe fluid actuated latch means and the spring means for opening theguide arms the cen-. tralizer may beeasily and quickly released from thedrill steel. Further, by the provision of the automatic control meansfor. the latch-releaseplunger, any possibility of the drill hammer m0-tor striking against the centralizer arms is preeluded. Other uses andadvantages of the improved drill steel centralizer will be clearlyapparent to those skilled in the art.

While there are in this application specifically described one form anda modification which the invention may assume in practice, it will beunderstood that this form and the modification or the same are shown forpurposes of illustration and that the invention may be further modifiedand embodied in various other iorms without departing from its spirit orthe scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a, pair of cooperating guidearms pivoted on said support, said arms being pivoted intermediate theirends and engaging the drill steel at one sided their pivots, and a coilspring extending between the guide arms at the other side of theirpivots for urging said arms widely apart.

2. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a pair of cooperating guidearms pivoted on said support, said arms being pivoted intermediate theirends and engaging the drill steel at one side of their pivots, a coilspring extending between the guide arms at the other side of theirpivots for urging said arms-widely apart, and a releasable latch forholding said guide arms in guiding position against the action of saidspring.

3. In combination, a guide for supporting a drill steel actuator and forguiding the same for movement therealong, a centralizer at one end ofsaid guide for centralizing a drill steel and comprising pivoted guidingelements having means for constantly urging the same out of steelguiding position, a lock engageable with said guiding elements at theends thereof remote from their pivots for holding the same in steelguiding position against the action of said'constantly-urging means,said lock being releasable to free said guiding elements for swingingmovement away from the drill steel, means operable from the rear end 01said guide irrespective of the position of a steelactuator on said guidefor eflecting release 01! said lock, and automatically operable meansoperative when a steel actuator is in a predetermined positlon withrespect to said guide for releasing said lock to cause said guidingelements to move out of steel guiding position thereby to precludeengagement of the steel, actuator with the centralizer.

4. In a drill steel centralizer. a support, a pair or cooperating guidespivoted on said support, a pivoted latch for holding said guides inguiding relation, and a fluid actuated plunger for releasing said latch.

5. In a drill steel centralizer, a support,'a pair of cooperating guidespivoted on said support, a latch for holding said guides in guidingrelation, and a fluid actuated plunger mounted on one of said guides forreleasing said latch.

6. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a pair of cooperating guidespivoted on said support, a pivoted latch for holding said guides inguiding relation, a fluid actuated plunger for releasing said latch, andresilient means for throwing said guides apart when said latch isreleased.

'7. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a pair of cooperatingguides pivoted on said support, a pivoted latch for holding said guidesin guiding relation, and a plunger on said support and rela- 20 tive towhich said guides are swingable for releasing said latch.

8. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a pair ing means movableinto and out of guiding relaas controlling fluid flow to said fluidactuated means.

tion with respect to a drill steel, releasable swingable latch means forholding said guiding means in guiding relation, fluid actuated means forreleasing said latch means, and valve means for 40 inguiding relation,fluid actuated means i'or releasing said latch means, and valve meanslocated at a point remote from the guiding means for controlling fluidflow to said fluid actuated means.

ELDER G. GARTIN.

